Northern Expedition
The Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched by the Kuomintang (KMT) against the Beiyang government, particularly the Zhili Clique, in 1926. German intervention in support of the Zhili resulted in its decisive defeat and the near-total collapse of the Kuomintang as a contending Chinese government. Background Following the Xinhai Revolution in 1911 and Yuan Shikai's abortive enthronement in 1916, Sun Yat Sen's Kuomintang became one of several factions competing for political legitimacy and military supremacy in an increasingly divided China. As the authority of the country's only internationally recognized government in Beijing continued to erode, by the 1920s China's predominant form of government had become various mutually hostile military cliques. From its center of power in Guangxi and Guangdong, Sun Yat Sen's own military government envisioned an offensive northwards with the goal of taking Wuhan and Nanchang, and eventually the rest of China. Its forces were in-part funded and equipped by the Commune of France, which hoped its assistance would spread socialism to China. Despite promising conditions caused by the Second Zhili-Fengtian War, Feng Yuxiang's Beijing Coup, and rising nationalism in the coastal regions, Sun Yat-sen died of cancer in early 1925 before the campaign could be launched. Sun's death triggered a power struggle within the KMT. Chiang Kai-shek, Commandant of the Whampoa Military Academy, became commander of the National Republican Army. There were three plausible candidates for the position of generalissimo; Liao Zhongkai, Hu Hanmin and Wang Jingwei. A failed assassination attempt on Liao cast suspicion on Hu, who was arrested, tried and executed. This allowed Wang to become official head of the KMT, and the leader of its left wing, while Chiang assumed unofficial leadership of its right. Liao Zhongkai was appointed acting President in an effort to balance the left and right factions. Course of the War The Kuomintang were supported by Feng Yuxiang's Guominjun and opposed by the Zhili Clique, who in September formed an alliance with Zhang Zuolin's Fengtian, dividing the populous eastern half of China into two rival camps. In July 1926, the Kuomintang's National Revolutionary Army (NRA) advanced from their base in Guangdong into Hunan province, nominally under the sway of Wu Peifu. At the time, most of Wu's forces were preoccupied with fighting the Guominjun, KMT allies, and provincial governor Tang Shengzhi proved unexpectedly willing to collaborate with the NRA. With the way forward open, the NRA entered Hebei and attacked the Tri-City area of Wuhan. Though Chiang Kai-Shek hoped for a swift victory and two of the three cities that make up the complex quickly fell, the Wuchang garrison stubbornly held on. Nanchang was also captured, but being the birthplace of the Xinhai Revolution, holding Wuchang would be the ultimate propaganda victory for the Kuomintang. In September, Chiang demanded that the foreign powers remove their gunboats from the area, and while most decided to passively defy him, Germany went a step further. Perceiving the Kuomintang as Syndicalist due to their French backing, German gunboats began supplying the garrison with much needed food on the pretense of delivering postage. As this flew in the face of Chiang's demand, KMT shore batteries fired upon the German gunboats, who fired back. Though Germany now had justification to escalate the conflict, Chiang Kai-Shek gambled they would not do so, and decided to seize a needed victory through taking Nanjing. As Chiang advanced downriver, Germany decided on a full intervention, and launched a successful naval invasion of the KMT's provisional capital of Guangzhou, while a second force from Qingdao moved south into Zhejiang, in the vicinity of Shanghai. In January, the core of the National Revolutionary Army met Sun Chuanfang's forces augmented by German reinforcements near Jinhua, Zhejiang, and dealt the NRA a decisive blow. As the Kuomintang's senior leadership considered its next steps, Chiang Kai-shek was unexpectedly assassinated, possibly in retaliation for the execution of Hu Hanmin a year earlier. The decapitation of its leadership, the failure to capture Wuhan, Nanjing, or Shanghai, and the occupation of its capital in Guangzhou, caused enormous damage to the morale of the NRA. As Sun Chuanfang's forces pressed their advantage and the absence of supplies from the South began to bite, the Northern Expedition gradually collapsed, as various units defected, deserted, or simply disintegrated. Some NRA units under Li Zongren retreated to Yunnan, while others found refuge in rural Fujian, and the Kuomintang's Central Committee including Wang Jingwei fled overseas to Paris. Some Kuomintang holdouts in Eastern China continued fighting but eventually surrendered in February of 1927, bringing an end to active organized resistance. Aftermath The threat of the Northern Expedition, which united the rival northern warlords, provided a crucial moment of respite for Wu Peifu's branch of the Zhili Clique, and gave Sun Chuanfang the opportunity to absorb Hunan, Guangdong, and Guangxi into what could now be called the League of Eight Provinces. The Expedition would also prove the catalyst for increased German involvement in China, providing both Sun and Wu with an invaluable ally. However, the Zhili clique's losses and Fengtian Clique's non-involvement, despite their alliance, altered the balance of power in eastern China. Zheng Zuolin would attempt to exploit this in the Third Zhili-Fengtian War, where further Zhili victory with German aid would enable first the Xuantong Restoration then the reunification of most of China. Meanwhile the remains of the Left-Kuomintang continued an underground but increasingly organized resistance in the eastern coastal cities, eventually leading to the Shanghai Uprising in 1932. Category:Chinese-related topics Category:History